They say Miata is always the answer. Well, “they” say a lot of stuff, but in this case, they may be onto something, because after 30-plus years and four generations, there hasn’t been a single Miata that hasn’t made a difference in our world. (Yes, we see you, too, NC, and you are loved.)
Not Fast but Fun
The MX-5 Club with the Brembo BBS Recaro package turned a 1:25.77 at our official test track, the Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park, putting it decidedly mid-pack on our leaderboard. That’s more than 2 seconds faster the 2020 MX-5 Club and about on par with the latest Civic Si, but it’s also more than a second behind a standard GR86.
[The Grassroots Motorsports ultimate guide to track car lap times]
And while we love to dwell on the objective measures of our test subjects with the lap times and the VBox data and whatnot, the Miata is one of the few places we’ll allow ourselves to stray into the realm of vibes.
Because Miatas are nothing if not vibes.
1. Compared to the Subaru BRZ tS, the latest Miata Club clearly has a power deficit. At every corner exit, the more powerful Subaru (red trace) quickly develops more speed than the Mazda (blue trace). 2. The MX-5’s soft suspension also shows up in braking–witness the slightly less aggressive speed peaks that show the chassis taking a few beats to reach full deceleration. 3. Circuit Tools’ speed delta graph, detailing where each car is gaining or losing time, clearly shows more diversions in acceleration zones than anywhere else.
The real story is that no 1:25 lap of our test course should be as engaging as a lap behind the wheel of an MX-5 Club. It moves with a precision and level of feedback that’s becoming more and more rare these days, and it delivers an on-track experience that goes deeper than the numbers on the clock.
If that sounds like a lot of rationalization for a mediocre lap time, all we can say is that you’re clearly not a Miata owner. Few cars are as friendly as the Miata or as easy to live with despite the form factor. Of course, it’s a generally diminutive roadster by any modern standard–and by historic standards as well.
The current ND sits more than an inch shorter–as in bumper to bumper–than the original Miata yet packs a lot of real-world access into its sub-2400-pound presence. The trunk is not huge, but its square shape keeps it usable. It also doesn’t yield any space when the soft top is retracted.
Ingress and egress are surprisingly easy for a small, low car with small door openings and a convertible top. And over-the-road comfort is surprisingly high, with only a little extra drone and road noise coming through the soft top on extended highway cruising.
Speaking of tops, the Miata’s is a paragon of simplicity: one latch, toss it back and you’re done. Raising it can be accomplished with one hand from the driver or passenger seat.
The same 181-horsepower, 2.0-liter four-cylinder that came along with the ND2 refresh remains. It’s still not particularly powerful, but it’s reasonably flexible above about 3500 rpm.
The six-speed’s shifter is still among the best OEM ones out there, and using it is a delight not only because of its action but because of the excellent location, which is just augmented by the perfect seating position afforded by the optional Recaros.
The Brembo BBS Recaro package costs a few bucks–about $4800, in fact–but one plop into those exceptional Recaro seats will have you giving it serious thought. As the name suggests, that package also includes the BBS wheels and Brembo brakes.
Those Recaros represent maybe the best stock seats to ever come in a Miata, and they’re certainly a big part of the appeal of the Club for us. Somewhat frustratingly, however, you can’t get those seats à la carte. You have to get the four-piston front Brembo calipers and 17×7-inch BBS wheels as well. All of these pieces technically represent upgrades, but not all of them seem to represent the same value or bang for the buck.
There’s also the option to buy the package and sell the wheels and/or the brakes, recoup some or all of your upgrade investment, and replace them with pieces of your own choosing. We’re not going to tell you how to manage your finances, though. Look, you’re reading a magazine about amateur motorsports, so you’re clearly not someone who makes the best financial decisions. Just do whatever you want.
Great With Upgrades
Our willingness to part out our hypothetical brand-new Miata brings us to the next reason why Miatas transcend their objective numbers: They make exceptional blank canvases and respond to upgrades extremely well.
Although the lap time of our test car–certainly not helped by skinny, 205mm-wide, all-season rubber–wasn’t particularly impressive, ND2 Miatas dominate nearly every class of autocross or time trial they’re assigned to, even ones that only allow simple mods like shocks and alignments.
[How to make a Mazda MX-5 Miata ND competitive in C Street]
Even stock, though, the on-track driving experience is rewarding. The Miata has a lot of body motion, both in roll and in pitch, but it never feels uncontrolled. That rolling and pitching does take time, though, and even though the tires let you know exactly what they’re doing, the Miata rewards deliberate inputs so as not to overwhelm the rubber before the chassis settles.
In stock form, the MX-5 shows some body roll. Scratch that–a lot of body roll. Although the body roll slows down the chassis reactions, matching driver input speed to this chassis reaction time still delivers stellar feedback.
This softness shows up in the data a bit as well. The Brembo-equipped BRZ tS, for example, yields sharper deceleration peaks even though the Miata offers good bite from the pads. We believe this lack of initial deceleration is simply the lag of weight transfer.
Regardless of some fractional mathematical differences, the experience is top-shelf. Match your pace of inputs to the abilities of the not-so-grippy tires–not hard given the level of feedback–and the Miata is a willing apex accomplice.
So, what about that new DSC-Track mode? It raises the threshold for stability control and traction intervention as well as keeps Mazda’s Kinematic Posture Control engaged. KPC isn’t quite an e-diff, but it’s an e-diff-adjacent technology that applies very light braking to an inside-rear wheel in various cornering phases. The resultant force creates leverage through the trailing arm that effectively counters lift at that particular suspension corner, combatting some of the body roll at the rear of the car. The slight drag also lightly decelerates the side of the car toward the inside of the corner, helping the car turn more willingly.
It feels great. The stability it adds is far more seamless than it should be on a sub-$40,000 car. When it comes to lap times, however, it can be a bit of a momentum killer: DSC-Track added about half a second to our times; everything turned off delivered our fastest laps. For use in the rain or at the hands of a novice driver, though, we’re fans.
Do You Want One?
The MX-5 still looks great and remains delightfully small–shorter, in fact, than the original Miata. The Club version gets the front spoiler and side skirts, while all 2024 models get a slight front-end facelift.
Of course. Who doesn’t?
Look, Miatas are certainly not immune from critique. For all its strengths, the current one, while excellent, still lags behind market competitors like the GR86 and BRZ in the horsepower department. All of that roll and pitch certainly don’t do it a ton of favors, either. But there’s a reason the Miata has and continues to be the frame of reference for everything else in its class. Join the club and you’ll never be disappointed by the answer.
